Szczesny sorry for Gunners woes

Wojciech Szczesny has apologised on behalf of the Arsenal players for their failings this season, but the young Polish goalkeeper vowed Arsene Wenger's squad would return next season stronger from that disappointment.

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The Gunners 2-1 home defeat by Aston Villa leaves them in danger of being overtaken by FA Cup winners Manchester City in the race for automatic Champions League qualification. Since suffering a dramatic last-minute defeat to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final at Wembley, Wenger's men have recorded just three wins in all competitions.

"I totally understand the frustration of the fans, and we apologise for our lack of trophies this season," Szczesny said. "This is one of the biggest clubs in the world and we should be winning trophies every year."

The Poland goalkeeper added: "We will have much more desire next season as we know how close we were this season to win the Carling Cup and Premier League.

"That gives us more motivation and desire to go for it next year, and obviously we will be one year more experienced compared to what we were this year."

Wenger suggested the shock defeat by Birmingham 10 weeks ago dealt his young side a psychological blow from which they never really recovered.

It was a defensive mix-up between Szczesny and centre-half Laurent Koscielny which gifted Obafemi Martins a dramatic winner at Wembley.

However, the 21-year-old goalkeeper insists the players should have been able to put that out of their minds as they chased down United in the Premier League.

"If you ask my opinion, I put it behind me straight away and I was focused on all the games coming up," Szczesny said. "Obviously I was disappointed not to win the Carling Cup, but for me it made no difference to what happened after. You have to ask the other players what they thought about it.

"I think when we lost the Carling Cup we still had a very good chance to win three trophies, and we are disappointed that we didn't."